What does it take to become a corporate general counsel in Texas?
The chief legal officers at Toyota, J.C. Penney, Match Group and a leading corporate executive headhunter told a group of 130 members of the Association of Corporate Counsel’s DFW Chapter on Wednesday that there are specific things lawyers should do if they want to be a general counsel, including:
- Understand the business at a granular level;
- Be curious and ask questions;
- Find out what specific legal concerns the company’s executives and board members have;
- Be a great lawyer and be great at your current job; and
- Raise your hand to tackle new responsibilities that meet urgent needs of the business.
“I went to J.C. Penney as a securities lawyer, but then I leveraged my position as much as I could,” J.C. Penney General Counsel Brandy Treadway told attendees at The Star in Frisco, which is the headquarters of the Dallas Cowboys. “I took the time to meet as many people to build a network within the business so I knew who to call when I had a question.”
Treadway, who leads a legal department of 27 attorneys and a support staff of 20, said the key to becoming a GC is truly understanding the business.
“I don’t like to shop at all, so I had to do a really deep dive on our operations,” she said. “I learned about things that seem granular and dull, but very necessary to the mission of the business.
“If you have a question, ask it, because if you have a question, then other people have the same question,” Treadway said.
Toyota North America GC Sandra Phillips Rogers said it is important for lawyers to know the company’s specific legal needs when interviewing for the position.
“If the company has a need in regulatory or compliance, then it would be beneficial if the lawyer has a regulatory or compliance background,” said Rogers, who has about 54 lawyers in her corporate legal department. “A specialty practice may get you the job because of a certain specific need that the company needs, but you need to have a broad interest once you get in the job.”
Match Group Chief Legal Officer Jared Sine said assistant GCs interested in moving into the top position should not be slow to tackle new duties without demanding a pay raise.
“After Expedia bought Trivago, I approached my boss and asked if I could – in addition to my current responsibilities as the lead M&A lawyer – act as the de facto GC of the new subsidiary,” said Sine, who was the associate GC at Expedia prior to joining Match. “Having the willingness to raise my hand and take on additional responsibilities was critical.
“Look for opportunities to grow,” he said.
Kelly Noblin, co-founder of Newhouse+Noblin, said she constantly hears from lawyers that they want to become a general counsel.
“Be careful what you ask for,” warned Noblin, who was also on the panel. “There is nothing wrong with being happy practicing law and not being a GC. And it is important for you to raise your hand to take on more duties, but be sure you are doing your current job really well first.”
Noblin and others say that the position of general counsel is not always so glamorous.
“It feels like a round-the-clock job,” Rogers told the ACC group. “You take the work and the burden home. I like it because I like helping the company.
“I don’t mind that I’m home in bed at 10:30 p.m. reviewing emails,” she said. “It’s who I am now.”
Sine agrees.
“The company goes with you wherever you go,” he said. “I just went to China with the family and the company went with us. That’s the way it is.”
But Sine and the other panelists had one additional warning.
“Look for a company where the legal department is valued,” he said. “I interviewed for one job where the general counsel’s office was basically like a janitor’s closet. It was a place where it was obvious that the lawyers were not valued or respected.”